Hillary Clinton says it takes a village. But first the village has to eat. In my book, it takes a kitchen. Come and discover why food is part of everything we do, and just like romance, is most often enjoyed with and binds us to others. Along the way, I will tease you into discovering the science and philosophy that will help you seduce the lover, impress the boss, build the family and change the community. And we will probably get to share some recipes on this journey...

We managed to make it another Date
Night and started the evening at Burger again.
I can confirm my positive review from an earlier post. We enjoyed a vegetarian burger that was
excellent, a couple Slop Sloppie Joes that were great and some fries and
salad. More important to note was the
joyful service of our bartender, Shawn.
He was our bartender a few weeks ago also. On this night they were short a bartender and
were dealing with an enthusiastic crowd for the Game 2 of the World
Series. Shawn was hustling – doing his
best to stay on top of drink orders, food requests, general bar maintenance and
pouring beers and wine from the other bar located about 40 feet away. He performed with panache and ease,
epitomizing the adage, “Never let them see you sweat.” Well done – we will return.

On our way
into the event we were treated with free ice cream from the Penny
Creamery. This is a place you must
try. The free treat – mint ice cream on
an obviously home-made cone. The mint
was incredible, far, far superior to anything found in a grocery store and
guaranteed to make anyone smile in amazement.
Once inside the Santa Cruz High School Theater we were treated to a
thoughtful discussion of the intersection of food, science, economics and
politics.

Dialogue
began with a discussion between Robbins and Pollan about California’s
Proposition 37 which would force food providers to label genetically modified
foods. I took away from this a few
ideas. First, or the good of our
families, do we not all want to know what is in our food? It isn’t about what is or is not harmful – it
is about simply having all the necessary information from which the consumer
can make individual, informed decisions.
Yet opponents are spending a million dollars per day to defeat this –
and that is far more money that the supporters.
The health issue for us here is pesticides. It is not about taste or nutrition. It is about the amount of pesticides found in
and on our food. For much there is not
enough science to determine the health effects of ingesting these foods…but
don’t you want to know if those pesticides are there in the meantime? In regards to the money being spent and big
agribusiness’s efforts to defeat this, I think Robbins had the key quote,
“Ignorance is not bliss; it is subordination.”
Check out www.carighttoknow.org
for more info. Next, we all need to
learn more about BT Pesticide. I don’t
know enough to say much here, but the fact that it can be engineered to occur
in our food and therefore is ingested by us following genetic modification is
enough to make it a priority for me. My
final take-away from this portion of the evening was this thought: eaters need
representation on the Congressional Agriculture Committee to have input in the
writing of the Farm Bill. The committee
needs some urban representation. Is there
fertile ground for a food-oriented consumers’ lobby? Is there such a thing already?

At this
point the other panelists joined Pollan and Robbins on stage. From each panelist these are my take-aways:

Jamie Smith,
Santa Cruz City Schools’ Food Services Manager – Our schools should be centers
of community service and should be places where kids are safe from harm…and
this includes the food supply. SC
Schools have gone to cooking from scratch and using local ingredients. This has provided numerous learning
opportunities for everyone involved.

Jim Cochran,
Swanton Berry Farm – Labor issues must be part of the dialogue about our food
supply. If we are serious about caring
for our environment and the economy re: our food supply, then getting informed
about labor practices is vital.

Darrie
Ganzhorn, Homeless Garden Project, Santa Cruz County’s first CSA – Similar to
Cochran’s thoughts, Ganzhorn asked, what is the link between the food movement
and homelessness? None of the issues of
our day and place exist in a vacuum.
When we realize the interconnectedness of the issues and bring the
leaders of various movements and organizations to the table, they can more
effectively coordinate to make real change.

Randall
Grahm, Bonny Doon Vinyards – There are wines of effort and wines of
terroir. There are wines for which the
maker determines every step of production and therefore taste, and others for
which taste all comes from place, weather, and soil of the grapes. A wine of terroir is low-tech and far more
interesting. Grahm is now trying to
develop a very low-tech, very traditional vineyard in San Juan Bautista, and I
cannot wait to see what the results are.

Dr. Wallace
J. Nichols, The Blue Marble Project – “The ocean is downstream from our entire
economy, “ and everything we consume and all of its packaging eventually ends
up in the ocean. If we care enough to
eat organic, local, seasonal, can we care enough to have it all packaged
responsibly? Recently his team found a
sea turtle with 3400 pieces of plastic in his digestive system.

My final
take-away was this: We all care about
our food for different reasons. We all
have our pet issues. We are not mutually
exclusive. We need to get to the table,
coordinate, share and change our food systems for the good of our children and
our collective future.

Monday, October 22, 2012

I look over the beer menu quickly, discover one that I knew
was not yet available bottled, and decide to go with it.

“I’m really into barleywines, so I think I need to try the
Charlie 1981.”

A few minutes later the bartender returns with three
glasses.

“You guys seemed pretty serious about your beer, so I
thought I’d let you try this and see what you think.We have three versions of the Charlie here. First we have it from a keg pushed with CO2,
like normal.Then we have it pushed with
nitrogen, so it’ll have a different feel.Finally, we have it cask-conditioned.Let me know what you like.”

I have finally found nirvana, the greatest beer bar on Earth.Here I am sitting on a patio across from a
working fish wharf at 11:30 in the morning.Brewer, a labrador retriever, is lying down between me and John Meier,
the brewer of Rogue Ales.A gorgeous
Oregon July day doesn’t hurt.The food
menu also says they are serious about beer.Beer pairings are suggested, and classic pub food is offered.I go with the fish and chips which turn out
to be among the best I’ve ever had.The
bartender is attentive and continues to be friendly, even after business picks
up.The décor says this place is serious
and passionate about their beer.Once
the lunch crowd fills the place it is obvious that locals and tourists alike
feel comfortable.Regulars sit at the
bar, and converse with the bartender.

A few years ago Ken Wells wrote a book about finding the
perfect beer bar, Travels with Barley.While there was much I disagreed with Walls
about, his task was admirable and fascinating.Frankly, I am a little jealous.It was a book I had hoped to write one day.Great conversation, colorful locals,
charismatic publicans, televisions, and music may make a bar - it's a great read.But a great bar is a different beast than a great beer bar.What would the perfect beer bar look
like?What and how would it serve?Who would hang out there?

In another bar, Clark’s Ale House in Syracuse, New York, I
entered at opening and found the staff talking about beers they had tried
recently in another bar.And they
weren’t talking about Coors Light and Bud.They had this conversation standing beneath the Ale House’s own beer
menu.On a chalkboard behind the bar was
a list of beers to weep for.Rather than
being listed alphabetically or by nation or region of origin, they were listed
by serving temperature with a few other key measures such as International
Bittering Units and specific gravity.

The Rogue Public House in Newport, Oregon and Syracuse’s
Clark’s Ale House are great examples of phenomenal beer bars.A great beer bar must serve beer for beer
lovers.That means something with
flavor, something that might even challenge me.They have to serve it right.Every beer need not be served ice cold.The British have a saying…Why do Americans serve their beer ice
cold?So they don’t have to taste
it.Fortunately, this description of
American beer culture is far outdated.The United States is now home to the most vibrant and varied beer
culture in the world, even if craft and microbrews still account for less than
10% of total beer sales.And the best
bars are respecting this small segment of the industry as well as its
consumers.That respect includes not
serving a $4 to $10 beer in a frosted mug.

A great beer bar also serves as much as possible on
draft.But they recognize that some
beers, bottle-conditioned Belgian ales particularly, are actually best served
from the bottle. Into an appropriate glass – yes, like wine, glassware can
dramatically alter the beer experience.A great beer bar also has the sense to serve good food that goes with
their brew.Think fish and chips, good
burgers, bratwurst, hearty meats, rich desserts, big flavors.

What Walls got right was that a great beer bar is welcoming
to everyone.Conversation is more
important than televisions and music.There are regulars that give the place some local flavor. There’s a
bartender that knows the community and his brews.There’s a staff ready to help you try
something new, or stick with something comfortable.A great beer bar is a community in and of
itself.

Friday, October 19, 2012

I will spend a lot of time here exploring the role of food
amongst family and friends, but I am quite fascinated by the possibilities of
using food to improve our communities.I
cannot help but wonder what the impact has been of farmers’ markets and communal
gardens.I like to imagine that food
could be used to achieve lasting social and political change.We know Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan loved to
have a drink together.What if we could
get currently-opposed politicians to the table over food?How about Sunni and Shitte?Palestinian and Israeli?This interview got my imagination going… http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/15/162805706/jerusalem-a-love-letter-to-food-and-memories-of-home

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I passionately believe that food is central to the way we
build relationships, yet much in American culture has changed in the last few
decades.I remember when hand-held food
was for picnics and a fast food drive-thru was a novelty.Microwaves?My family didn’t have one until I was 15.Now we have so many conveniences that are
supposed to make us more efficient.But
is it really more efficient if we eat while moving and rarely stop to truly
connect with each other?Is it really
more efficient if we have sacrificed relationships in order to get more
done?We all know we need to slow
down.We are all happier when we get a
chance to savor the joys in life, food being a rather important joy.Dr. Nadine Burke highlights some of the
issues related to health here…. http://www.nourishlife.org/2011/06/video-nadine-burke-food-and-family/

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sometimes
the need for a date night comes on in a hurry and needs to be addressed
immediately.And for the good of the
family, it’s really best to take that need seriously.This was just the conversation my wife and I
had this week.And the strength of our
family starts with the strength of us as a couple.

We managed
to have our sitter watch the kids Friday night while we headed out.And we really did just head out – we had no
idea where we were going or when we would be back.We knew exactly the sort of place we needed,
in fact we could name it.Unfortunately
it was up in the city – 85 miles away.We would need to settle on someplace a little closer to home.But we needed someplace different where we
could get some new flavors, some new scenery, a touch of adventure.After driving around we settled on a Greek
place we hadn’t been to, prefaced by a beer at a place across the street known
for its great selection, simply called Burger.(http://www.burgersantacruz.com/) We got a couple beers - big, hoppy, floral, bready ones, and just
glanced at the menu.

I should say
that Burger isn’t at all your average burger joint.At 8pm the place was loaded with kids, Archie
cartoons were being projected on the wall and there was a box of toys to play
with.The beer selection was, in fact,
excellent and diverse.But the menu
certainly made us pause.We opted to try
an appetizer – prosciutto-wrapped figs drizzled with a balsamic reduction.Burger joint?They were exquisite.The
bartender was amicable and knowledgeable, too.We chose to stay and try a salad and a couple wood-fired pizzas.We caught up on our week, caught the end of a
great baseball game and unwound.Ultimately, that is what we needed – more than a warm atmosphere, more
than particular food or flavors – we needed a chance to stop with each other
and chat, uninterrupted and still.

That’s why
date night is important…We all get so
caught up with our tasks and chores, never mind the exhaustion of our
jobs.We have to stop and get back to
the basics.The strength of our families
begins with the adult couple.We when
are relaxed, connected and joyous together we see the results in our kids.Family chores, manners, the way they treat
each other, our ability to parent all improve.Though it might seem like we need to spend all our time with the kids
and sacrifice dates, romance and intimacy for a few years, the reality is that
the health and happiness of the family depends on it.

As for the
pizza…it was excellent, and we will return to Burger.And we topped off the romance with a stop at
Marianne’s for some wonderful ice cream on the way home.Nothing says Date Night like an ice cream
cone after 9pm.

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About Me

I am a native New Englander, but I have lived across the country and in Europe and now live in California. I am a father, husband and cook, a high school history teacher, avid cyclist, reluctant runner, and traveler.